What is Social Phobia? continued part 3

There are many other theories around how S.A.D. evolves. Many believe that this is a disorder caused through environmental exposure and is a learned behavior. Some researchers believe that individuals develop S.A.D. after experiencing a particular negative social experience in their life. After the encounter of the negative event, these individuals relate that negative experience to any general social experience they encounter in the future. They become very anxious in social situations, fearing that the previous negative social experience will occur again. The result of this is a change in behavior through the avoidance of social situations altogether.
Sometimes, through therapy, people diagnosed with social phobia can recall a specific traumatic incident that sparked their anxiety and irrational thought process. Through my experience, I could specifically nail down one incident from my childhood that ignited my behavior. I was in kindergarten when this occurrence happened. I remembered that I would always get excellent comments on all my work. But one day, my teacher announced to the class that I actually got something wrong on some sort of project. Many of my classmates made fun of me the rest of the day. This sounds like a very benign event and shouldn’t have had such an effect on my life but it really did. The rest of my life I was known as the quiet or shy kid that never talked. I hated more than anything when someone would say that to me. I will get more into this discussion on how I would deal with this in the chapter with my self help tips.
Attachment specialists attribute that another possible cause of S.A.D. may be an effect of not developing an adequate bond with one’s primary caretaker as a child. Researchers state that these children grow up lacking self-regulatory skills to calm, focus, and soothe one’s self in situations perceived as stressful or chaotic.